In a quiet section of Rainier Beach, there's an undeveloped lot covered with grass and trees. The majority of the 77,000-square-foot lot, located less than a quarter-mile from the Rainier Beach light rail station, is owned by the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom, which will build a new health center on the property. Construction will begin on June 5 with a "soil-turning" ceremony to mark the future development of the wellness center.
The other part of the lot is owned by the Mount Baker Housing Association (MBH), which plans to develop an affordable housing project on the shared space. Varying height restrictions on the lot had limited how tall the affordable housing structures could be and how many units it could contain.
But a recent Seattle City Council vote has changed the lot's future. On June 2, the council voted 9-0 to pass Council Bill 121196, which was cosponsored by Councilmembers Eddie Lin and Alexis Mercedes Rinck. The bill will also upzone other parts of the city, including downtown, Fremont, and the Central District.
Lin told the Emerald, "One of my top priorities is to make it easier to build more housing throughout the city, especially affordable housing … [but] it can feel painfully slow to see the fruits of labor around housing development."
Even with the new zoning changes, there could still be a long wait before an affordable housing project begins construction on the lot at South Trenton Street, between 42nd Avenue South and MLK Way South.
Previously, the lot had two different height limits, but the legislation upzoned the area to require that any structure on the lot not exceed a height of 125 feet. This would enable the construction of more affordable housing, but MBH told the Emerald that this specific housing project was not a "current priority" and that it would be at least a decade away.
At this point, the only current development project planned for the lot is for the future Tubman Center for Health and Freedom. The Tubman Center, in a press release, said its new project, which would be completed in winter 2027–28, will be "a 26,000-square-foot facility that will serve 12,000 primary care patients annually." The estimated total cost for the project will be $42 million; the center has raised $34 million so far.
The Tubman Center told the Emerald that it did not need a change in zoning height to construct the new facility.
A representative from the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) told the Emerald that this legislation creates an "opportunity for more needed housing … whether Mount Baker Housing moves forward with an affordable housing project there, or if the site changes hands and is developed by another organization or owner."
The Tubman Center can hold a capacity of 500 primary patients, who travel from nine different counties, at its present-day Healing House, located near the Mount Baker light rail station. The future Tubman Center will, according to a press release, offer "allopathic and naturopathic primary care, behavioral health, and other health services, as well as community programs and gathering spaces."
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